The military-run mobile carrier Viettel is planning to expand its investments to Indonesia and Nigeria, two countries with the largest populations in the world, group leaders told the annual general meeting of Viettel Global, a subsidiary of the Viettel Group.

As at June 2016, Indonesia and Nigeria had populations of 258 million and 187 million, respectively. Investments in the two countries would create conditions for Viettel to continue to expand its investments in other regions, according to the group.

Viettel Global targets revenue of over $1.3 billion this year, up 29 per cent year-on-year, with pre-tax profit of $5 million. It had 24 million subscribers last year, earning revenue of $1.04 billion, down 21 per cent compared to 2015.

Sharp declines were seen in two markets - Mozambique and Burundi - due to exchange rate fluctuations. Other markets, however, continued to see revenue growth, such as Tanzania, with 1.34 per cent, Cameroon 43 per cent, Mozambique 7 per cent, and Haiti 6 per cent.

Viettel Global said that the company is also facing many major competitors, such as Orange, MTN, Movistar, Claro, Digicel, and Axiata, which have strong and long-term brands in Africa.

The military-run mobile carrier currently has operations in nine overseas markets: Laos, Cambodia, East Timor, Cameroon, Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi, Peru, and Tanzania, with operations in Myanmar expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Viettel Group decided to establish Viettel Global last year to expand its operations in foreign countries and seek investment opportunities. It has among the largest overseas investment among Vietnamese enterprises.

It officially launched its 4G network on April 18, announcing that it covers 95 per cent of Vietnam’s population with an average download speed of 30-50 Mbps. According to Mr. Hoang Son, Deputy General Director of Viettel, it is the first network operator in the world to have 4G coverage nationwide.

Viettel earned VND226.5 trillion ($10.15 billion) in revenue in 2016, equal to 100 per cent of its annual plan, while pre-tax profit was VND43.2 trillion ($1.93 billion), or 101 per cent of its annual plan. It also contributed VND40.4 trillion ($1.8 billion) to the State budget.

The military-run company had 7.4 million new subscribers as at the end of 2016, bringing its total to 90 million.